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Some Endangered

Marsupial

CLASS: Mammalia (Mammals)

ORDERS: 7

FAMILIES: 19

GENERA: 83

SPECIES: 295

ABOUT

A koala joey peeks out of its mother's pouch.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could ride around in a backpack throughout your entire childhood? You’d never have to worry about falling off of Mom’s back or getting caught by predators! Well, marsupials are the kinds of animals that can do this. They are known as pouched mammals, because the adult females have a marsupium, or pouch. It is usually on the outside of the body where the young (called joeys) grow up. The pouch acts as a warm, safe place where the joeys grow.

Like all marsupial females, the wombat has a pouch—but it opens toward the mother’s rear, rather than toward her head. This keeps dirt from filling up the pouch when the mother wombat is busy digging!

Most adult female mammals give birth outside of the body. During development inside of the mother, the embryo is connected to the mother’s blood supply by a placenta. These are called placental mammals. Marsupials give live birth, too, but the embryo climbs from the birth canal to the pouch. Once there, it attaches to a nipple and doesn’t let go because it can’t! The nipple swells in the embryo’s mouth so that it is only able to let go when it is more developed.

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HABITAT AND DIET

Most marsupial females, like this red kangaroo mom, have an upward-opening pocket called a pouch, for their young.

Most people think of Australia when they think of marsupials, because the most well known of the marsupials—koalas and kangaroos—live there. But opossum species, which are also marsupials, live in North, Central, and South America. Most marsupials have four small legs and feet, such as opossums and quolls. Kangaroos and wallabies have two large feet and two arms.

On most marsupial females, the pouch is like a pocket opening upward. But the pouch of the Virginia opossum of North America and the wombat of Australia opens toward the tail. All marsupials have good hearing and a good sense of smell. Most walk on the ground or are good climbers, and one, the water opossum or yapok of South America, can swim! Bandicoots, kangaroos, wallabies, and possums have two toes fused together. The numbat is the only marsupial active during the day—all others are nocturnal or crepuscular.

The mountain pygmy-possum, which lives in the Australian Alps, is the only marsupials that can live in areas that get snow. Most Australian marsupials live in dry scrub or desert habitat. In South America, marsupials live in forests or tropical rain forests. Marsupials can live in any part of the forest habitat, from the trees to the forest floor where, like the wombat, they burrow underground.

The Virginia opossum is North America's only marsupial. There's an old folk tale that opossum young were born in their mother's nose, then sneezed into the pouch.

The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial found in North America. Its native habitat is moist forests, although it may also be in your neighborhood! It is an important part of our environment, acting as a scavenger to clean up trash, fruit, and dead animals. If you spot one in your neighborhood at night, watch how it uses its dexterous tail and paws to get around. But for your own safety, don’t get too close: opossums can be fierce fighters! If it’s springtime, pay special attention—if the opossum happens to be a mother, you’ll see up to 13 babies hanging on to her back!

Marsupials are pollinators and seed distributors. They control pests by eating insects and vermin. Some marsupials make habitats for other underground animals by digging their burrows or loosening up the soil. The Virginia opossum helps clean up the environment by eating carrion, rotting fruit, and other items we consider garbage. In fact, this animal is often found rummaging around in garbage cans!

Bandicoots have two toes fused together, while other marsupials have separate toes.

So, what’s for dinner? Marsupials have different types of teeth, depending on what they eat, from bugs to other smaller mammals or birds to fruit and seeds to eucalyptus leaves. Bandicoots, Australian possums, and American opossums are omnivores. Wombats, kangaroos, and koalas are the herbivores. The rest are either insectivores or carnivores. Marsupials usually have more incisor teeth than other mammals do.

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FAMILY LIFE

Most marsupials are solitary during the year, except when it is breeding season. Most males and females breed with different partners and then go their separate ways. Females raise their joeys on their own. Most females have some type of pouch for their young. But not all marsupial pouches are as deep as a kangaroo’s pouch. Unlike the koala or kangaroo, most marsupial mothers give birth to several joeys at one time. Their pouch is shallow. When the joeys are old enough, they can climb onto Mom’s back instead of creating a lot of weight for her to carry around in her pouch.

When the joeys are born, they are much more helpless and undeveloped at birth than placental mammal babies. This is the reason for having the pouch—it protects the young, keeps them warm, and is the location where the joeys can get milk. Once the joeys have attached to a nipple to nurse, they grow and develop there for weeks to months, depending on the species. Once the joeys are large enough, they leave the pouch and hang on to their mother’s fur instead. Mom and offspring can stay together for up to a year in some species!

AT THE ZOO

The San Diego Zoo has a variety of marsupials for our guests to view. Koalas, Tasmanian devils, wallabies, and tree kangaroos, can all be seen in the Zoo’s Australian Outback. Watch our koalas live anytime via our online Koala Cam!

CONSERVATION

Marsupials often struggle to survive, and kangaroos are currently hunted for food and hides. The greater bilby Macrotis lagotis has decreased greatly over the years due to habitat loss from farming and introduced predators like feral cats and foxes. There are breeding programs for this species now, and they are being reintroduced into western Queensland, Australia, to repopulate their lost numbers.

The mountain pygmy-opossum Burramys parvus numbers less than 2,000 in the wild, due to construction of roads, dams, and ski resorts in its mountainous habitat. The hairy-nosed wombat Lasiorhinus graffiti has about 70 individuals left in one of the national parks in Queensland. This wombat is at critical risk due to overhunting for its thick fur.

There are many more marsupials that are endangered or at critical risk, and several that have already gone extinct. Australia now uses various management practices to protect its marsupials. We also need to do our part to keep them around. Reduce your ecological footprint by recycling and being aware of the products you are buying and where they come from. These are all things you can do to help our pouched friends!